Hodenosaunee Environmental Committee
Brian Wiles (brian@ontmoh.uucp)
Tue, 26 Nov 1991 21:32:23 EST
On 2 Nov. 1991, the traditional Council of the Six Nations Iroquois
Confederacy at the Grand River Territory (near Brantford, Ontario,
Canada) appointed an environment committee. This was a first step towards
the eventual establishment of a permanent Hodenosaunee environmental
division or office under the supervision and control of the Confederacy
Chiefs. The goals and objectives of the office to be set up have been
identified as follows: (1) To alert the traditional Chiefs and educate
the Six Nations people as to environmental issues and dangers that
threaten the well-being, health and rights of our people; (2) To gather
information for the Chiefs and people on all issues affecting the
natural environment, both on the "reserve" and in the whole of our
treaty territory (primarily the Grand River Watershed, known as the
"Haldimand Grant" lands); (3) To assist the Confederacy Council in making
contact, building alliances and maintaining good working relationships with
outside environmental groups, especially along the Grand River; (4) To
develop and coordinate community-based projects to enhance the natural
environment on our Territory and along the whole of the Grand River (hope-
fully such projects would also serve to foster a sustainable and self-
sufficient community economy at Six Nations); (5) To formulate environ-
mental policy suggestions for consideration by the traditional Council
and implementation by the people under Council's direction; (6) To assist
the Confederacy in holding discussions with appropriate government
agencies (such as the Ont. Ministries of the Environment and of Natural
Resources, Environment Canada, etc.) on environmental decisions they
might make which would affect our land and people; and (7) To locate
competent people (such as university environmental scientists, etc.)
who can assist us in implementing the Confederacy's environmental
policies and provide training to our people as we work to establish
programs that will restore our land's environmental health and provide
economic opportunities to our young people. We want them to have a
choice not to have to earn their bread by destroying Mother Earth. We
hope this office will be able to bring to the Chiefs' attention the issues
that threaten our people's environmental health and safety and also
threaten to degrade our land base for the future generations. By having
a permanent environmental division, the traditional Council will always
have the up-to-date information they need to protect the people from
such dangers.
If you know of people who might be able to assist us in this project,
please let me know. My e-mail address is brian@ontmoh.UUCP. My mailing
address is Brian Wiles, P.O. Box 98, Hagersville, Ontario N0A 1H0 (Canada).
(I'd rather you mailed me a letter, since I seldom get to use this
computer.)
MORE TO COME. . .